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Question Time presenter David Dimbleby was involved in a tense confrontation last night with a Tory minister who suggested he doesn’t like it when women talk.

Claire Perry appeared on the show to defend the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal after a disastrous day in which seven ministers resigned.

The Minister of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy was defending Mrs May, saying: ‘We have a workable deal on the table and the alternative is inflicting needless harm on hundreds of thousands of people’s livelihoods’.

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But she sparked outrage after Mr Dimbleby tried to stop her mid-flow to allow another panellist to speak.

She looked at the audience as she said: ‘I know you hate it when women talk.’

In an effort to diffuse some of the building tension, she said ‘I love you really,’ but Mr Dimbleby continued to defend himself (Picture: BBC)

Labour MP Chris Williamson said: ‘It was utterly contemptible for Claire Perry to resort to despicable smears on Question Time tonight when she was unable to defend her govt’s abject failure on Brexit.’

And that was not the only outrage she caused, as she also labelled Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn an ‘anti-semite.’

During a heated exchange with Labour MP Barry Gardiner, who said May was not able to make a Brexit deal that reflected the demands of the electorate.

He said: ‘Any Prime Minister who has any sense of honour and decency, when she could no longer fulfil the one job that you have, which is to command the majority in the House of Commons, should say “I cannot get this deal through. I will stand aside and see if somebody else can”.’

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In response, she said: ‘How dare you talk about my Prime Minister’s lack of dignity and honour when your leader is an anti-semite, is on the television, is on Russia Today and wants to abolish the Royal Family.

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‘How dare you.’

She added: ‘I’m not apologising.

‘The man is on the record saying things that his own Labour MPs, don’t quote me, quote his own Labour MPs saying that he is an anti-semite.

‘And Luciana Berger had to have police protection at the Labour party conference.